Activists across the country are planning to shut down Vodafone stores for a second weekend in protests over the company's alleged tax avoidance and the wider issue of government budget cuts.

Protesters say Vodafone was let off a £6bn tax bill by HM Revenue and Customs – allegations both organisations deny – and the company has become a "symbolic target" for protests against the coalition government's cuts.

Stores in at least five cities in England and Scotland are expected to be shut by activists – after more than a dozen shops were forced to close by demonstrations in 10 cities last weekend.

The widespread protests under the banner of UK Uncut – a loosely assembled group that urges direct action over budget cuts – came after a small-scale demonstration against one store 10 days ago "went viral", in the words of one activist. This Saturday, Vodafone stores in Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Glasgow and Nottingham are expected to be targeted.

"The numbers will be a lot bigger this time," said Amy Cox, 25, who was involved in last week's 40-strong action in Brighton, which shut two stores in the city, and will meet fellow protesters on Saturday for another demonstration.

Cox said protesters would decide on a course of action on Saturday, but it was "likely" a Vodafone store would be targeted. The company was a symbolic target for action against cuts.

"We have leaflets which explain how Vodafone has been tax evading, and how that fits into the wider spiel the government has been giving us to say all these cuts are all really necessary – when in effect they could be sourcing some of this money from big corporations that are managing to evade their taxes," she said.

Although Vodafone has been the main company targeted so far, it is not the only organisation being used as a scapegoat by those protesting against cutbacks.

Yesterday about 15 protesters, including some of those who shut a Vodafone store in Glasgow for eight hours last weekend, occupied a Royal Bank of Scotland branch in the city centre.

"It was a varied group: there were a couple of pensioners, some housing activists, some students, environmental activists, and then a couple of people who were banking joined us," said Alice Campbell, 35, a nurse in Glasgow. "It's about the cuts, we shouldn't be facing them." Most of the group had occupied a Lloyds TSB branch three weeks ago, she added.

Vodafone was investigated by HM Revenue and Customs over the tax it owed after a takeover of German company Mannesmann in 2000. The mobile phone company was told to pay £1.25bn in tax following what HMRC described as "an intensive period of negotiation that tested the arguments of both parties".

Vodafone and HMRC have denied the £6bn tax liabilty figure quoted by protesters. An HMRC spokesman said: "There is no question of Vodafone having an outstanding tax liability of £6bn. That number is an urban myth."

A statement on Vodafone's website said that the company "meets its tax obligations in the UK" and was paying the full £1.25bn sum of tax agreed following the HMRC investigation.

However, the allegations have persisted and led to the first anti-Vodafone protest a week and a half ago, when 65 protesters entered one of the company's shops and staged a sit-in at one of the company's stores, forcing it staff to call the police and closing the store for almost six hours.

News of the demonstration was widely shared on social networks, and inspired a "day of action" last Saturday, when disparate groups of individuals organised protests in various cities.

"Basically it seemed it was taking off across the country," said Ellie Mae O'Hagan, 25, who organised protests in Liverpool that shut two Vodafone stores, just two days after hearing about the first demonstration.

"Liverpool as a city is very much rooted in politics, its identity is defined by the struggles of working people in the face of a government that doesn't seem to be sympathetic to them, and on a personal level it was just something I really wanted to be a part of.

"The government is choosing to make these cuts, they're not forced to make these cuts. I think it's important to establish that they don't need to happen, but I don't think that message is getting through at the moment."A spokesman for Vodafone added that stores would stay open throughout the weekend. "At the moment we have a small number of protesters in a small number of cities who are still protesting about something which is incorrect," he said.The demonstrations are spreading beyond allegations against the company to the wider issue of budget cuts, but protesters are clear about their immediate target.

"Vodafone should brace themselves," O'Hagan said. "Because we're not done with them yet."